3/31/2008

Beer Blogging - Moylan;s Moylander Double IPA

It's finally baseball season! Right now I'm watching the Angels' season opener; they're trailing the Twins 3-2 in the top of the 8th. Let's drink some beer.

The pour: Golden red with a lot of fine bubbles that result in a white, thin head. It's a pretty looking beer.

The aroma: It smells like an IPA. Lots of floral, fruity hops. I can smell orange, grapefruit, and a little sweetness (honey maybe).

The taste: Much more going on here than there was in the aroma. The first thing that hits your tongue is that sweetness that it's still hard to define, but I'll say it's honey. The label says this beer has "double hops and double malt", but if they put a lot of malt in here I can't find it. Next is the floral hops and the orange, but that transitions quickly into the last flavor/aftertaste. The finish is very bitter, with hints of grapefruit, and you have to wait a second before you can take another sip. There's zero hint of alcohol (8.5% by volume), and a good amount of carbonation. Overall, this beer isn't that well put together. They were going for an IPA with more flavor when they made this a double IPA, but all they did was drown the malt in a sea of hops. I'm not a shrinking violet by any means when it comes to hops, but I do appreciate a little balance - there's such a thing as going overboard. The overall effort wasn't that successful, and even the beautiful pour can't salvage it.

The rating: 4/10. The label is covered in medals that this beer presumably won at different beer tasting festivals, but I can't for the life of me see how. It does have live yeast in it, so maybe it's too old or not old enough or something. Still, I can't see recommending it because it's such a one-trick pony. There are probably 10 better, more interesting IPAs (Lagunitas Maximus, for one) brewed within 50 miles of where this one is made (Novato, CA). Buy one of those.